Conflagration
by waffleman1314
Summary: Who knew that one accidental explosion could cause so much hysteria? Phineas never thought that a fun day with Ferb would end in his brother's capture or his pet's newfound evil.
1. Prologue: City of Fire

**Okay, so new story! :) This one I actually outlined, so tell me how this start is.**

* * *

Try and picture a conflagration for a moment. What can you see? I can tell you what I see. Right at this very moment. Flames. Tall, red hot flames. An ongoing inferno. That's what I see.

I'm running down the street. He's chasing me, and so far it looks like he'll catch me before I find an exit to this furnace. The heat is unbearable. All of the air around me is arid and smoke-filled. Not a building in sight is flameless. I daresay it reminds me of Hell. But I know full and well that Hell is much worse than this, and this is pretty terrible.

He rounds the bend. My feet are pounding on the sidewalk like sticks on a heavy drum. Everything seems to be going in slow motion. Even through all of the screaming voices, it seemed as if silence had invaded my brain. Never in a million lifetimes had I imagined such a spectacle. How could someone I love so much turn our home city into a lake of fire?

Turning the curve around the next building, I felt my shoe slip out from under me. I skidded a few feet with no grip, but I caught myself with my hands and was able to keep running in the new direction. The impact had scraped up my hands and knees. Blood began to trickle from the abrasions. I bit my lip to try and ignore the stinging sensation of the hot air on my frayed skin.

Breathing had become a chore. Smoke was pouring out of everywhere. The air was so dry that moisture was only present because I was sweating up a storm. I wiped the sticky perspiration from my brow with my arm. Now there was probably blood across my face. Soot was now in my wounds. The stinging perception felt even worse now.

Thud! He was close on my tail. It would be about fifteen more yards before he had me. I gathered up all of my remaining strength and sprinted as fast as I could towards Main Street. If I could only get there, then I would be able to escape the city. And his wrath. I doubt he'd leave his self-made apocalypse.

The creaking of his metal contraption was ear-splitting as he turned the curve I'd just been around. Knowing that there was no possible way to outrun him to Main, I figured I would have to use my wits to get out of this situation. I pressed my body up against the cool metal of a car. Luckily for me, it wasn't on fire like most everything else was. Peeking up through the window, I noticed he still hadn't fully turned that last curve. I also noticed the driver had left his keys in the car. Yes!

I swung the door open quickly and hopped into the driver's seat. Twisting the key in the ignition, the car roared to life. I used what little knowledge of driving I did have to get it in drive, and then I slammed my foot into the gas pedal. The wheels squealed in protest, but the car lurched forward and was sent zipping through the streets wildly. If I survived this, I was definitely taking driver's education twice.

Unfortunately, he saw me. He sent his machine bounding after me. I pressed my foot even harder into the pedal, willing it to go faster. The car could only take but so much, though, and it accelerated at the same rate as before. By then, I was well pushing a speed of one-eighty miles per hour. But that wasn't fast enough to get away from him. He programmed the machine to lurch for me, and I had only a split second to think before a large, metal foot came crashing into the roof of the car.

The impact threw me right through the windshield and back onto the pavement. I tried to get up, but everything was spinning around me. Pain streaked through my body. It was like a burning flame was running through my veins. Then he hopped out of the vehicle and recognized me. I could barely hear him scream my name as the darkness started to overcome me…

* * *

**Who is narrating? Who is chasing the narrator? Why is the city on fire?**


	2. A Perfect Day

**Yeah, so this is a simple chapter. -AJ**

* * *

_Four days earlier…_

I was hammering away at the hull of a giant airship. That was how this story began. It was a beautiful summer day, with temperatures of roughly eighty degrees outside. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. A gentle breeze would ruffle my red hair every once and a while, and the refreshing scent of freshly cut wood wafted past my nose as we built away. I took a step back and looked up at the ship. It resembled the common stereotype of a pirate's ship, only it had two large, metal plane wings jutting out of the sides. On the back of it, there were engines that one might find on a space shuttle. Smiling, I set my small, red-handled hammer down and wiped the sawdust off of my hands. Yes, she was a beauty.

My green-haired stepbrother walked around from the back of the ship and stood next to me. He held up a can of polyester resin. Laughing, I held up my own can of acetone. I know, it's a strange pairing of liquids, but we had discovered in earlier projects that mixing these two substances together would create a cheap and plentiful batch of water-proofing sealant. I set my can down and ran inside our garage to find something to mix them in. Our pervious mixing container had either been thrown away by our parents or had miraculously disappeared, as did most of our inventions. Settling with a paint tray, I snatched it up and ran back outside to mix up our concoction.

"Ferb, don't you think we should be wearing face masks?" I remarked. He nodded silently and ran off to grab some. When he'd returned, he handed me one and I pulled it over my face. "Thanks!"

He gave me a thumbs-up and held up a small piece of metal with his other hand. Ferb never ceased to be on top of things. I winked at him jokingly and poked him in the chest.

"Nice thinking, bro," I chuckled. He dropped down and started to use the crude tool to open up the acetone. I set the paint tray next to him and held it steady as he poured the clear liquid into it slowly. Once it was empty, he switched cans and did the same with the polyester resin. The yellow-tinted fluid started to blend with the acetone. Its scent penetrated the masks we were wearing, but, luckily enough for us, it wasn't as strong as it would have been if we hadn't worn them.

"Did you know that the gases let out by the scent of acetone will replace the oxygen molecules in the air around its user and cause the user to experience light-headedness?" Ferb asked me. I laughed a little.

"Yeah, I did, bro," I nodded. "But it's a cool fact nonetheless."

At that moment, a delivery man walked into our backyard and had to refrain from doing a double-take. I hopped up from our project and ran over to shake his hand. He seemed a tad bit confused.

"_You're_ Phineas Flynn?" he gasped. I shrugged. He handed me the clipboard with the paper on it. Pulling out a pen, I signed the form at the bottom. "Aren't you a little young to be ordering twelve tons of airplane fuel?"

"Why, yes, yes I am," I smiled, clicking my pen to retract the tip. "We're using it to fuel our airship after we waterproof it. How's Paul?"

"Paul? You know Paul?" he blinked. I guess it had thrown him off guard. "Yeah, he's doing great. Doing great…"

"Well, see you again sometime, perhaps!" I said, waving as he got into his truck. Sighing, I went back to our project and retrieved some paint brushes so that we could put the sealant on. "He was a nice guy, Ferb. Just seemed weird that he felt unusual about this…"

* * *

**Anything cleared up yet?**


	3. The Great Airship Ride

**I'm taking this one slow, guys. I will not rush the plot! -AJ**

* * *

"Alrighty, Ferb, the test run ran perfect!" I smiled, pumping my fist into the air excitedly. I couldn't wait for our friends to see this thing. It was spectacular. Ferb gave me a quick thumbs up and started to adjust a few things in the engines and give it more fuel. I dusted my hands off, as they still had sawdust on them, and went to greet Isabella, who'd just come over.

"Hey, Phineas," she smiled. "What'cha doin'?"

"Afternoon, Isabella," I greeted her. "Ferb and I just got done testing our giant airship; the U.S.S. Ferb! Wanna ride?"

"Do I ever!" she said excitedly.

"Us, too, us too!" Buford shouted, running into the backyard carrying Baljeet over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "We want to ride on the pirate ship that flies. For more reasons than it being a pirate ship, too."

"Buford, put me down, please!" Baljeet whined.

"Okay," Buford shrugged. He let go of Baljeet and let him fall into a heap on the ground. The poor boy stood back up and brushed himself off, trying to keep his dignity somewhat intact. I waved them all over to the ramp so they could board the ship.

"Now, we need one person at the wheel, and everyone can get a turn, promise," I laughed. "Who wants first turn?"

Everyone raised their hand. Laughing, I told Baljeet he could go ahead and have the first turn, then Isabella, then Buford, and then Ferb. Ferb told me that I was captain by default. We all boarded the U.S.S. Ferb and waited for liftoff.

"Please remember, folks, that as we liftoff, keep your hands, feet, and other body parts inside the ship," I told them. "Ferb and I are not responsible for possible injuries. Well, except for in our own case- we didn't sign the waivers."

"Phineas, we didn't sign waivers either," Isabella pointed out.

"Oh, whoops," I said. I handed them each a piece of paper. "Here you go. Now, can we please all sign in red?"

"Why can't it be blue?" Buford asked.

"Because, that's Perry's favorite color," I said. They all gave me a blank look. Sighing, I handed Baljeet a red pen. "Just sign it so your parents don't sue me. Please."

They all signed with the red pen and handed the forms back to me. That's when I remembered that waivers required a parental signature. Or did they? Ah, who cares, I doubt any of these guys' parents would ever sue me. I mean, they seemed to be okay with everything else we did throughout the summer.

We then explored the skies all afternoon. Baljeet drove slowly, but who's to blame him; his mom speeds like a maniac. Isabella was obsessed with turning the ship upside-down while she was flying it. If she didn't have her aeronautics badge, I think we all would have been falling out of the ship. Buford did zigzags the entire time, which turned out to be a tad nauseating. Ferb drove it smoothly through the skies, giving us enough time to reenact a famous battle and sing the 'Ballad of Badbeard.' Eventually, Ferb got tired of driving and gave me the wheel. It was a fun experience, but I would have preferred to be playing with the rest of the guys. Ferb did come and entertain me with his 'King of the World' bit.

I looped back around and headed for the house. The sun was setting and I was ready for some pie. Well, hopefully there was going to be some pie. I landed the ship gently in the backyard and sighed happily. Then my eyes opened wide.

"Hey, has anyone seen Perry?" I asked. Four shrugs.

* * *

**Yeah...I was thinking of Kirby a little. **


	4. The Root of It All

**Alright, I won't lie; this was a tiny bit inspired by Gravity Falls' episode about the bottomless pit. -AJ**

* * *

Clang!

That was the all-to-familiar sound of a trap closing down around Perry. This time, the trap was a cage that had denture glue all along the bottom of it. Perry made a face and started to think of a way he could escape. After all, that was his job in this double life. He was a secret agent. Getting out of a cage denture-glued to the floor was simply a necessary part of his life, even if it did sound crazy.

"Ah, Perry the platypus, how erratic of you," said the man in the white lab coat. His characteristic Drusselstinian accent, messy mop of brown hair, and notable slouch was only the visibly strangeness that was Doctor Heinz Doofenshmirtz; Perry's lifelong nemesis. "And by erratic I mean, completely…ratic…"

Perry rolled his eyes and pulled a small bottle of sulfuric acid out of his hat. Making sure he didn't touch the stuff with his own fingers, he poured it along the denture glue and waited as it ate away at the sticky paste. Doof didn't notice, however, but rather he kept talking.

"I bet you're wondering why I used denture glue to keep you in place, hmm?" he smiled. "Well, I'll tell you! You see, Perry the platypus, I have learned through extensive research that winning smiles can help politicians be elected. It's not their long, boring speeches. It's not their campaign mottoes. It's what people see on television that causes them to win. Most importantly, it is the _smile_ of the politician that gets him the winning votes."

Ignoring the scientist, Perry pressed his hands up against the sides of the cage and tried to wiggle it a little. It moved slightly, but not enough for him to get out. But this was quite alright, actually. Perry didn't need to escape until Doof had shown him what there was to destroy. Then Perry could escape, destroy the thing, perhaps give Doof a smart whack to the head, and continue on with life after he'd returned home to the boys.

"Now, I'm going to use this machine to destroy Roger's winning smile!" he cackled. He ran over to the object and quickly pulled a drape off of it. Perry narrowed his eyes. It was escape time. "Behold! The De-Calcification-inator! One zap with this baby will take all of his teeth away…you know what I have a weird confession to make, Perry the platypus…"

The platypus froze in place for a second and looked up at the scientist. Doof was fidgeting a little in front of his latest inator. What kind of confession would he possibly be making? Perry stopped toying with the cage and looked intently at the man, awaiting a response with much curiosity and a finite bit of anxiety.

"My inator doesn't really destroy teeth," he sighed. Perry almost rolled his eyes, but the next part caught him by surprise. "I was trying to make it work, you see, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the machine to function the way _I_ wanted it to work. It kept putting off a ray that sent evil messages to the brain through the roots of the teeth. Of course, I only know this because I did some human testing. Don't worry, though. I made sure to lock the guy to fix my laundry machine was locked up in my laundry closet again."

Perry rolled his eyes at this.

"Don't you give me that look, Perry the platypus, the laundry machine fixing guy is fine!" Doof shouted. He put his hands on his hips and looked back at his faulty inator. "Any-ways, I figured I would change my plan a little bit. If I couldn't get the inator to work with me, I'd have to work with the inator. So, I now plan to shoot Roger, my brother, the mayor, the most annoying man on this Earth, with this ray and make him much more likable. Sound good, Perry the platypus?"

With a strong kick, Perry knocked down the cage and did a quick flip over the bars that were now over top of him. He landed on top of the cage and pulled a grappling hook out of his hat. Pressing his index finger down on the trigger, he shot the hook around Doof's legs and caused the man to fall on his face.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Doof cried. "And how did you escape, that denture glue came with a lifetime guarantee!"

Smirking, Perry shook the bottle of sulfuric acid and slipped it back into his hat. Doof grabbed the rope attaching the hook to the deployer and gave it a good, quick tug. Perry came flying forward, not expecting the movement in the least, and landed on his face as well. He pressed the button to retract the hook and watched as unraveled from around Doof's legs. It slid back into the holster and made a clicking sound. He leapt up, ready to begin the fight again.

Unwilling to let Perry have the upper hand in this fight, Doof promptly picked up a chair and threw it across the room at his small nemesis. Perry ducked ever so slightly to miss being hit square in the cheek by the seat of the chair, rolled forward, and used his tail to flick a small stack of CD's that were sitting on the floor up at the man. They pelted Doof in the stomach and fell back to the floor, shattering glass and plastic film everywhere.

"Really, those were my Love Händel albums!" Doof exclaimed. Perry gave him an uninterested expression and made a mad dash for the inator. "Oh, no ya don't! Not today, Perry the platypus, not today!"

Doof dove forward and grasped Perry by the ankles, making him fall on his face once again. Perry turned his head to look at Doof. The scientist smirked and hopped up to make a run for his machine, but Perry slid his tail in front of Doof's shoes and caused him to trip and fall right next to him. They glared at each other, nose to bill, for the longest time. Both blinked, suddenly realizing that nothing was happening, and they both jumped up in sync and ran over to the machine.

Perry leapt on the firing end of it and reached for the obvious large red self-destruct button that was characteristic of Doof's inators. It just wasn't like Doof to leave that piece of his inventions off, even if it was the stupidest thing Perry thought he could have done. Frustrated with the platypus, Doof ran around to the control panel and started to hit random buttons on the display.

"You know, I think I've forgotten how this thing works, Perry the platypus!" Doof cried. He continued to press buttons in random orders and occasionally slam his fists onto the panel as if it would do something. "Help! Help! This little red light is blinking and I don't remember what it means! Help!"

The machine let out a high pitched squeal and started to heat up. Biting down on his tongue a little, Perry stretched his arm out as far as he could, trying to hit the self-destruct button before the machine started firing beams all willy-nilly. Doof started to freak out and run in frantic circles in the lab. Finally, Perry's longest finger tapped the self-destruct button ever so lightly, but not before a blast from the inator blasted him in the chest. As his finger left the button, Perry leapt off of the machine and stood there dazed for a moment as it exploded behind himself. He blinked a few times and looked around.

"Oh, Perry the platypus, I meant just fix it…" Doof said sheepishly. He walked over to his nemesis and smiled a little. "At least you're okay. I thought that thing was going to send you flying out over the Tri-State Area or something…"

Little did the evil scientist know what was going through Perry's head just then. The platypus glared at him and decided he knew what he had to do. Something evil. Very evil.

* * *

**So...what now?**


	5. Hey, Where's Perry?

**I can get around these silly computer blocks! UPDATE-AWAY! xD -AJ**

* * *

I pushed my peas around on the plate and sighed. Today had been great. We'd conquered the skies, we'd built a humungous ship with our own four hands, and we'd somehow managed to lose the ship in less than five seconds after we'd all disembarked it. Sighing, I sat there and reflected on the day happily. There was never a dull day where Ferb and I were concerned. We couldn't live without making something fun.

"Phineas, eat your peas, sweetie, it's not like it's zucchini," Mom said, breaking me out of my reminiscence. I nodded and quickly started scooping peas into my mouth. "Yup, not zucchini, all right."

Everyone except for Candace let out a small chuckle. She was cutting through her piece of chicken with a grim expression on her face. It wasn't odd to see her in this mood. In fact, I usually only saw her smile after winning a long game of Skiddley Whiffers, which I didn't mind losing to her only because it put a genuine smile on her face.

"Yeah, we get a laugh for the one that can make practically anything happen," she grumbled.

"I can't make anything happen, Candace," I said quickly. "I'm just a kid."

"Don't you play that with me!" she shot back. I blinked and spooned more peas into my mouth, having nothing to say back to that. "You put on that cute little innocent face, acting like you didn't do _anything_ at all. I know you did. And when you finally get in trouble for it, I'll be there telling you that I told you so."

"Candace, could you please leave him alone?" Mom sighed. "For the last time, he did not do anything. Isn't he a little young to be inventing an airship?"

"Wait, you were trying to get me in trouble for building an airship, Candace?" I blinked at her. She growled and rolled her eyes.

"I try to bust you for building your crazy contraptions in the backyard, for flying into outer space, for destroying downtown with tree house robots-"

"You did that, too, Candace," I pointed out lightly.

"Whatever!" she shouted. "You shrunk yourselves down and decided to take a swim down my throat, and you think it's okay to throw my name out there all of the sudden?"  
"Hey, wait, that one was an accident!" I defended. "You weren't supposed to eat that sandwich, Isabella's dog was! We were trying to retrieve one of Isabella's badges for her, but you put a little bit of a kink in our plans."

"Would you two quiet down, please?" Mom asked. "First of all, that's the most bizarre thing I've ever heard, Phineas, do you expect anyone to believe Candace swallowed you?"

"Yes!" Candace and I said in unison. We gave each other an awkward look.

"Ferb?" Mom blinked. He nodded. "Lawrence, you stay here with Ferb for a second, I need to have a talk with these two for a moment."

"Aw, Mom," I frowned. She stood up and grabbed us each by the upper arm to drag us into the living room. After sitting us both on the couch, she stood in front of us and seemed to be thinking for a minute. I went to say something, but she held up a hand and shook her head.

"I don't need a comment from either of you unless I've asked you, do you understand?" she said firmly. We both nodded and swallowed hard. "I want each of you to answer honestly and without trying to bash the other, okay? Is it true that Phineas and Ferb build things in the backyard according to Candace's descriptions?"

"Yes," we said again, talking at the same time. Candace groaned and gave me a look.

"So Phineas, you're meaning to say that Candace hasn't lied about you building roller coasters, monster trucks, rockets to the moon, bizarre sports arenas, biospheres, giant bowling balls, belly-dancing robots, and rocket-powered casts?" she asked, looking more at me than Candace this time.

"Yes, we built two roller coasters, the monster truck was just your car modified, but we changed it back and Dad was there, we built a total of three rockets, but only one went to the moon, the other two…elsewhere, the sports arenas were just soccer and hockey, and you saw the hockey game, the biosphere was for Isabella's troop on a rainy day, it was just one giant bowling ball, and it's in the Most Pointless Book of World Records, Candace those robots weren't belly-dancers, they were anti-romance machines and we were trying to figure out what they did, and the casts- you're getting your fan-based fiction stories mixed up with what actually happened," I said.

"So…you're not denying this?" Mom blinked.

"Why would I?" I shrugged. "Building crazy cool stuff is who I am. Granted, Ferb's more handy with tools, but that's beside the point."

"Ferb is more handy with tools," Candace mocked. I frowned at her and tried not to tell her how stupid she sounded trying to mimic my voice. She stopped the phony voice and shot me a hard look. "Don't even try and throw Ferb under the bus, Phineas, you know you're the guilty party!"

"I wasn't throwing him under the bus," I narrowed my eyes.

"Oh yeah?" she smirked. "Sure sounds like you don't want to be in trouble alone."

"Trouble?" I said, sitting back a little. I looked at Mom, whose expression didn't change. "Y-you mean it's wrong to try and have fun?"

"From what I'm hearing, not only have you been building things in my backyard without permits and legal rights, but you've also been using up our money to do this with, haven't you?" Mom said pointedly. "We don't own roller coaster parts."

"Mom, really, I've got permits, and I have legal rights!" I defended. She wasn't buying it.

"We will discuss this later with your father, do you understand?" she told me. I nodded and looked at the floor. "As for you, Candace, don't think you're getting away with anything. You're in trouble for fighting with your brother as well, and on top of that for letting him do it."

"But you didn't even believe me!" Candace exclaimed.

"You still should have been a responsible older sibling," Mom told her. She looked at both of us and sighed. "Now go to your rooms, I'll bring you your dinner."

"Yes, Mom," we groaned. Candace gave me another hard look. I just shrugged to let her know I didn't know how we were doing that. We marched up to our rooms and entered them, both shutting the door behind ourselves. I went and sat on my bed, wondering what would happen next. Mom came up a little while after and gave me my dinner, but I only ate some of it. My appetite had been quite taken away. I got ready for bed without brushing my teeth or showering, since I wasn't allowed out of my room until Ferb came up to get ready for bed.

Crawling under the covers of my bed, I wrapped my arms around myself and kept pondering what this meant for me. I'd always thought that she'd be proud of what Ferb and I built. But now that I was in trouble, nothing seemed certain. She wouldn't take away my normal mannerism, would she? I shuddered to think of a world in which I wasn't like myself.

When Ferb came in, I faked asleep. I didn't want to talk to him, just because I didn't want to talk to anyone really. He didn't have much to say, anyways.

"Hey…where's Perry?" he mused, looking over at our Perry-less beds. Odd.

* * *

**I had no idea I was writing this like this until it happened...well.**


	6. The Missing Perry

**I've got this outline for this story...it's going better than the outline, I'll say. -AJ**

* * *

My eyes snapped open. They wandered over to the clock. Three seventeen. I sighed and sat up in my bed. The room was unusually quiet. I glanced over at where Perry usually slept- at the foot of my bed. He wasn't there. Frowning, I slid out of my covers and walked over to Ferb's bed. I poked him in the shoulder. Nothing. I poked him again. Still nothing.

"Ferb!" I whispered. "Ferb, Perry's still not here!"

I grabbed the covers and pulled them off quickly, hoping to wake him up with the chilly air conditioning hitting his skin. Much to my surprise, it wasn't Ferb that was lying there, but rather pillows that had been lying under the bed to make it look like he was still there. I huffed and shook my head.

"Very funny, Ferb," I said, unamused. I flipped his sheets back down and crept over to the door. Wrapping my fingers around it, I slowly turned it, so as not to make noise and wake up Candace or our parents. I tiptoed over to the bathroom to see if he was in there. The door was wide open, so I knew it wasn't occupied. Sighing, I turned and ran downstairs. Everything was dark, save for a light out front. He wasn't near the stairs.

I expanded my search to the living area. He wasn't sleeping on the couch, nor was he standing out in the backyard. Frowning, I checked in the kitchen and the lower-floor bathroom. Still no sight of Ferb. I even went into the dark, dank basement to look for him. All that was there were dusty footprints, most of which were shockingly Perry's. I ran back up to the main floor and ran outside into the backyard.

"Ferb!" I called. "Ferb, this isn't funny, bro!"

A window slid open above me and Candace poked her head out. Her expression was contorted in frustration, as was usual when she was talking to me, and her hair was an absolute mess. She leaned over the edge of the sill and growled.

"What are you doing?!" she called in a hushed voice. "Some of us are trying to sleep up here! Get inside the house!"

"I can't find Ferb anywhere!" I shouted back, trying to keep my voice as low as possible.

"Get in the living area, I'm coming down there," she grumbled.

With a loud sigh, I did as she asked and walked back into the living room. I slid the glass door shut behind me and went to sit on the couch. It was about five minutes before I saw Candace stomping down the stairs. Now I noticed the facial mask she'd applied. I rolled my eyes a little.

"What do you mean you can't find Ferb?" she hissed angrily. "He's probably in bed and you're down here waking up the entire neighborhood."

"Candace, I'm not joking, Ferb is gone!" I said, exasperated. I grabbed her by the hand and led her up to my room. "I woke up for some reason, saw that Perry wasn't in the room, went to ask Ferb if he'd come in at all tonight, and when I went to wake him up, he was _gone_. G-o-n-e gone!"

"Phineas, don't be ridiculous," she huffed. I opened my bedroom door and pointed to Ferb's bed. She marched over to it, grabbed the blanket, and pulled it back. "See, I told you, Ferb is…"

"Not there!" I finished for her. Her eyes fell on the pillows and for a second I could tell she felt a little stupid.

"He can't just be missing," she said, her voice wavering a little. "Have you looked in the entire house?"

"Everywhere except the attic and Mom and Dad's room," I said, crossing my arms. She bit her lip and crossed her arms.

"We'll check the attic first," she told me.

"Why would Ferb be in the attic?" I sighed. She turned on her heels and gave me a hard look. "What?"

"We can't rule anything out, if he's still in the house, he's either an extremely accomplished hide-and-go-seek player, or he's in one of those two rooms," she told me. "I'm betting on the latter."

I followed closely behind her up into the attic. Nothing seemed to be up there except for dusty boxes and, oddly enough, more of Perry's footprints. Candace grabbed a flashlight and switched it on. Light poured across the room, revealing more than just boxes and platypus foot imprints. Blankets, lamps, scooters, and even an unusual topiary were sitting clustered within the boxes.

"F-Ferb?" I stammered. No response. Not that I expected a verbal response from my brother, but I was certain he'd notify me somehow that he was up there. Candace hummed in thought. "C-Candace can we go check Mom and Dad's room instead?"

"It's just an attic, Phineas," she told me, but she took me down to the next level anyways. We both made a beeline for our parent's room. Candace got there first. She swung the door open and pointed the flashlight in hurriedly. I leapt behind her and poked my head around her waist, terrified to not seem him there.

"Candace, what on Earth are you doing?" Mom said. She sat up and gave us both an awkward look. "Phineas, you, too? What is with you guys today?"

"Please tell me Ferb's in here," I swallowed.

"No, Ferb is not in here," Mom sighed. She stood up and walked over to us. "Now, please, will you both _go to bed_?"

"Mom, no, Ferb's missing!" I cried. I ran over and grasped her hand tightly, trying to pull her along behind me. "H-he's not in the house anywhere, he's not in bed, he's not downstairs, or outside, or in the attic, or the basement- and Perry's gone, too!"

"Phineas, sweetie, don't overreact, okay?" she said softly. She walked me to my bedroom and opened up the door. "He probably went to the bathroom or something, okay? See, he's sleeping in his bed."

"No, he isn't!" I exclaimed. I ran over to the bed and threw the blanket off, once again revealing the pillows. The expression on Mom's face told me she was convinced. She took off downstairs and started screaming Ferb's name. Her yelling woke Dad up, and when he'd been informed of the two missing family members, he, too, began to search frantically. Candace and I stayed up in my room. I was shuffling through his blankets and sheets.

"Phineas, you do realize that making a mess won't make him suddenly appear, right?" Candace told me. I stopped for a moment and froze. "Are you even paying attention to me?"

"Look," I breathed. I leapt off of his bed and reached down in the mess I'd made to grab a small slip of paper that had writing on it. I smoothed it out and shined some light on it with one of our desk lamps. Licking my lips, I read the neat handwriting. "_Dear Phineas, you'd better not tell a soul I've taken your brother captive. And don't try to rescure him, either. I'll make sure that he pays for every stupid mistake you and your little friends make. You tell your parents, you're dead, because I don't want the cops after me. Watch yourself. –Perry. P.S. I might have taken some cereal, too._"

I was shocked. My beloved pet had kidnapped my brother.

* * *

**This was interesting to write. Thoughts?**


	7. Ferb, the Pawn

**Let's see where Ferb went, shall we. -AJ**

* * *

When Ferb opened his eyes, he hadn't expected to see himself strapped down to a table and gagged. Someone had kidnapped him, but he didn't know who. He struggled in his bonds and tried to loosen them. Seeing that this idea had failed, he went to pull off his shoes and untie himself with his toes, but he was shocked to see that someone had tightly taped up his feet. A little weird, he had to admit, but also uncannily effective. Whoever had kidnapped him certainly knew his strengths.

Looking around, Ferb tried to figure out where he was. The room was dark and purplish. Several machine parts were littered on the floor, and scorch marks surrounded them. Was he in a laboratory? His eyes darted over to a makeshift prison in the corner; there was a man tied up and gagged, and a young girl sitting next to him that was tied up as well. Ferb recognized the girl as Vanessa, a girl he'd helped at the store one day, and also saved from death in Tokyo. The man must be, he assumed, her father. She looked up and noticed him.

"Ferb?!" she exclaimed. He raised his eyebrows and did his best to nod. "Why would he kidnap _you_?"

Before Ferb could send her a nonverbal reply, he heard light footsteps behind him. He turned his head soon enough to see a tiny, teal hand insert a needle into his arm. The hand's owner walked around to the front of Ferb and frowned. Ferb couldn't believe his eyes. His captor was Perry. The platypus tapped his left foot a little and checked a watch he was wearing. Then he chattered. To Ferb's surprise, though, he heard words instead of chatter. Perry walked over and removed the gag from Ferb's mouth.

"_Can you understand me, or can you not?_" he narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"How is this possible?" Ferb asked.

"_Simple understanding of chemistry and biology can bring you so far_," the platypus remarked. "_Either way, the possibility isn't the point. The point is that you _can_ understand me. You're going to be my pawn._"

"I don't fully understand," Ferb frowned.

"_Oh, you're so naïve, so unseeing_," Perry sighed. He placed a fedora on his head and cast a glance at his other two captives. "_I've been enlightened. A certain so-called evil scientist helped me to see that I'd be more functional as a villain than a man of the law._"

"You're not a man, you're a monotreme," Ferb pointed out. "Try acting like one."

"_I don't think you want to argue with me, Ferb_," Perry shrugged. "_I can't force you to like what I'm doing, nor can I expect you simple-minded humans to understand why I, who have been trained as a secret agent and law enforcement persona, wish to take over the Tri-State Area and rule it with an iron fist_."

"Rule the Tri-State Area?" Ferb blinked. "We live in a democratic society; no one's going to follow you!"

"_You will_," Perry laughed. "_Because I'm forcing you to. Trust me, I doubt you want to see Phineas brought to harm. I've got him…somewhere else. Any time you dare to step out of my orders, your brother will pay for it dearly. It would be ill-advised of you to not listen to me_."

"You're mad," Ferb breathed.

"_Oh_?" the platypus chuckled. "_I think you mistake my genius for insanity. It's fine, I don't expect you to understand. You're human- your way of thinking is a lot more…cautious… than mine. Still, you would be idiotic not to listen to me. I have been trained to be mentally and physically superior to you. As my captor can tell you, I was a beneficial ally, but I am an even more formidable opponent. You can't win, kid. You just can't._"

* * *

**Who's right about Perry? Ferb or himself?**


	8. Matters in My Hands

**Is my organization okay? -AJ**

* * *

I dropped the note and began to search for my cellphone. It had been on my desk last night, but seemed to be missing. Frantic, I began to throw blueprints and other miscellaneous objects that had been occupying my desk all over the place. Candace sighed and stooped down next to me. She came back up holding my cell.

"Phineas…" she sighed, clearing her throat.

"Thanks…" I murmured. I took the phone from her and instantly dialed Isabella's number. One dial tone.

Two.

Three.

Finally, I heard the receiver pick up.

"Hello?" came the sleepy response. "Isabella speaking."

"Isabella, I need your help, I know it's, like, the crack of dawn and I sound like a madman, but Ferb's…missing and…and I don't know what to do," I sobbed. "I need…I need you…I need your help…come over here, please…"

"Okay, I'll be right over, Phineas," she said softly. "I'll call up Buford and Baljeet to come as well."

"O-okay," I sniffled. I pressed end on the phone and wrapped my fingers around it. Unable to control myself, I dropped to my knees and let out a wail. Candace dropped down next to me and pulled me close to her, hugging me tight. I buried my face in her pajama shirt and tried to muffle my crying. She rubbed my back a little and kept quiet. "I-I don't know what to do, Candace…"

"I know, Phineas, I know," she said softly. "Mom and Dad will figure it out, I-I'm sure of it. We just have to trust that everything will work out."

"But, Candace, you read the note…" I swallowed, trying not to choke on my words. "H-he's going to do something awful to Ferb if we say anything…"

"I know, I know," she repeated. She continued to rub my back and gently started to shake back and forth. Perhaps it was her being nervous, or maybe she was just trying to tire me out in an effort to calm me down. It didn't matter what she did though; I felt truly helpless and hurt.

"Phineas," I heard another voice say. I removed my red, wet eyes from Candace's shirt and looked up to see Isabella kneeling down beside us. Her face was painted with worry. Behind her stood Baljeet and Buford, both also expressing a concern for my pathetic state. Slightly embarrassed to be seen crying, I brought my forearm across my face and wiped the tears off. "Are you okay?"

"N-no," I said honestly. "It's Ferb…h-he's…he's…"

"Gone," Isabella finished for me. She reached one hand out and grabbed me by the shoulder. It was reassuring to find that she genuinely cared for my well-being. "Don't worry, the police will find him. I'm sure he's alright."

"T-that's just it," I said, choking on another sob. "The cops aren't…aren't gonna find him…"

"Nonsense, Phineas," she shook her head, her hair flowing loosely around her head as she did so. "They'll find him, you've got to have hope that they will!"

"But, if I may interject," Candace said slowly. "We have _proof_ that the cops won't find him. Granted, we can tell you nothing because the room's probably bugged and that would be bad news for Ferb. There's nothing we can really do. Unless you have ideas…"

"We find him _ourselves_," I realized. The others smiled and nodded. Watch out, Perry.

* * *

**Right now...I realize I enjoy torturing innocent characters...O_O**


	9. Perry's Evil Scheme

**Been away far too long, I'm sure of it! But Conflagration is back up and on its feet again! Here goes chapter eight! - AJ**

Perry took Ferb into the kitchen of this penthouse, as Ferb had realized it was, and sat him down in a chair. The platypus began to instantly tie him to it, expecting the boy to run. Ferb sighed. He still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that his own pet had kidnapped him and was planning to take over the Tri-State Area.

"_Alright, you can't go anywhere, Doofenshmirtz and Vanessa are out of ear-shot, and Phineas is taken care of,_" Perry said haughtily. "_Now, it's time to get to business, kid. Your purpose is to relay my instructions to everyone else. Basically, you're serving as my mouth. If I order someone other than you to do something, it's your job to tell them what I said._"

"Why not just inject everyone else with the serum?" Ferb said flatly.

"_Because I only had enough resources to make enough for you_," Perry chattered angrily. "_Don't question my methods again, kid, or I'll make sure Phineas pays for every mistake you make, got it?_"

"Prove it," Ferb frowned. "I haven't seen Phineas. For all I know, you could be lying."

"_Don't push me, kid_," Perry spat. He pulled out a video device and showed Ferb a small clip of Phineas hanging down from the ceiling by metal chains. Ferb blinked from the video to Perry. Could he trust this as reality? "_One step out of line and I'll send several volts of electricity through his body using this device. Got it?_"

"Y-yes," Ferb nodded. He didn't want to imagine Perry torturing Phineas. Something wasn't right about this. It was all so unnatural. There was no way that Perry could truly be a fiendish villain deep down inside, was there? "I understand."

"_Good, good,_" Perry hummed. The platypus placed the device under his fedora and removed a small knife from a drawer. He began to twist its pointed tip on his left index finger, so carefully that he didn't cut himself, but faster than Ferb would have dared to do so. "_Now, let's get onto the fun part of this, shall we?_"

"I fail to see how this is fun," Ferb grumbled.

"_Don't force my hand,_" Perry warned. He pointed to his fedora and narrowed his eyes. "_I doubt Phineas wants you acting out of line. His life is in your hands, I'm afraid. You would be very wise to keep your unhappy comments to yourself. After all, we don't want the ever-quiet Ferb to suddenly become chatty, do we? That'd be too out-of-character, now wouldn't it?_"

Ferb nodded vigorously. He didn't want either to happen.

"_Now, let's discuss strategy!_" Perry said excitedly, an evil grin crossing his face. He sat down in a chair across from Ferb and kicked his feet back and forth like a small child. "_As you and I both know, maps to Danville's underground are easily accessible. What you don't know, is that there is more to Danville's underground than the maps will show. You see, I used to work for a secret agency that pretty much worked from an underground system. Tubes could send agents and people alike to numerous locations throughout the Tri-State Area without even the government knowing about our movement. _

"_I plan to use my knowledge of this system to send out drones to terrorize the people of the Tri-State Area. They'll need to be small enough to fit in animal-sized tubes, but also big enough to conceal dangerous weaponry. The weapons need to be a compilation of stunning devices, something flammable, and guns of some nature. I'm good with tools, but since you're faster and way more mechanically inclined, I'm going to have you doing all of the building._"

"I…" Ferb started, but he thought better. Refusing to build these drones would probably end up in Phineas' torture. He couldn't risk bringing harm to his stepbrother. Ferb nodded and swallowed hard.

"_Ah, I see that you're becoming more willing to listen,_" Perry hummed. He hopped out of the chair, untied Ferb from the chair, and beckoned for him to follow. The platypus led him back into the lab. "_Build as many with what is here now. If something else is needed, you can be certain I'll find it for you. Remember, if I catch you stalling or sneaking off, Phineas will pay. And don't think I can't see you if I'm not here- I've got the place completely wired with cameras._"

"Understood," Ferb said quietly. He instantly began to start rummaging through the various parts found in the lab. Making these drones would be easy enough with the parts here, but making hundreds of them would take some time. Ferb hoped that he could work fast enough to satisfy the platypus' need. In their makeshift prison, both Vanessa and her father watched Ferb curiously.

"What is he making you do, Ferb?" Vanessa frowned, nodding towards the machine parts littered across the floor. "He is forcing you, right?"

"Yes, I'm being forced," Ferb sighed. He started to connect some of the parts as he talked. "He's got my brother, and if I don't help him, he'll do horrible things to him. I have to build his army, in a sense."

"Army?" Vanessa whispered. She looked at her father, who seemed perturbed by this. "How can we stop him _now_?"

* * *

**Soooo sorry about the wait, guys! Summer destroys my writing habits!**


End file.
